Opening her phone during a cross-country practice outside of Claremont McKenna College’s soccer field, Skye Georgiadis SC ’29 was shocked to see her name, bolded in the Scripps Associated Students (SAS) election email. Georgiadis immediately sprinted towards her teammates, eager to share the news that she had just been elected Scripps College’s first-year class president.
As a first-generation, biracial student from a predominantly white area in upstate New York, Georgiadis said she often felt out of place in her hometown. Her upbringing pushed her to seek out spaces where she could encounter diversity and opportunities for growth. So at 14, she moved away from home to attend boarding school in Western Massachusetts.
This same determination to push herself out of her comfort zone led Georgiadis all the way across the country to Scripps, where she decided to run for first-year class president after only two weeks on campus. As a first-year student attempting to navigate an unfamiliar campus, Georgiadis saw the campaign as an opportunity to meet her classmates.
For Georgiadis, campaigning meant knocking on doors, introducing herself to strangers in Malott, and building a network of faces that felt more familiar with each conversation.
“What I wanted to take out of my campaign was new faces to meet and new people to say hi to across campus,” Georgiadis said. “I just really wanted to meet new people, especially being [from] across the country.”
On Sept. 9, the first-year class president was chosen in a process that looked different from years past: SAS swapped polished campaign videos for live speeches at the Motley Coffee Shop, a shift designed to push candidates into the community they hoped to lead.
“It’s a lot more intimidating,” SAS president Simran Sethi SC ’26 said. “It’s only been two weeks and you’re already being asked to give a speech about who you are and why people should vote for you.”
For Sethi and the other senior members of SAS, however, this shift was exactly the point. That ability to hold your own on a stage in front of others, Sethi explained, carries into the role itself.
“The new batch of students is a lot more outgoing and willing to connect with peers,” Sethi said. “You need to be a very outgoing person, confident, with energy that brings people together [to be first-year president.]”
It’s a quality Sethi already sees reflected in this year’s SAS meetings. For Sethi, this year has marked a shift — people seem to be much more willing and ambitious to voice their opinions even when it means opposing others.
Even in her first month in office, Georgiadis is an outspoken voice within Scripps’ student government. One of her initiatives, she explained, is to tackle what she describes as Scripps’ reputation for “cliquishness.”
“Upperclassmen told me Scripps can get really cliquey,” Georgiadis said. “That surprised me, and it’s one of my main goals to break down those boundaries.”
During her campaign, she organized a game of musical chairs which she calls a “Trojan horse” for community building. “You come thinking you’re just going to laugh and play a silly game,” Georgiadis said. “Secretly, I’m making sure you meet someone new.”
This mix of lightheartedness and intentionality has already shaped Georgiadis’s leadership style. She believes student government should not simply be confined to policy-making, but should also focus on laying the groundwork for belonging.
When asked what most shaped her as a leader, her mind went straight to her three older sisters.
“They’re my role models,” Georgiadis said. “They’re strong, outspoken and inspiring. Honestly, I do this as much for them as for anyone else.”
In higher education, especially at a historically women’s college like Scripps, representation is often a key aspect of fostering this sense of belonging. Georgiadis explained how she approaches her role with awareness of the intersecting identities on campus.
“There are nonbinary students, first-gen students and students of color,” Georgiadis said. “I don’t expect myself to encompass all of that, but I’m glad SAS is such a diverse organization that can. I’m glad I can bring my background as a first-gen [student] and as a person of color into student government, but I also know it’s not just about me, it’s about making sure everyone has someone in SAS who sees them.”
Maya Pytel SC ’29 confirmed Georgiadis’s hopes, explaining that from her perspective as a freshman, SAS has been visible and approachable from the start.
“I think SAS does a really good job advertising the different events they host,” Pytel said.
For first-years, though, visibility isn’t always enough. That’s where the class president comes in. One of their main responsibilities is bridging the gap between different groups on campus so that everyone feels comfortable showing up and branching out. Many in the class of 2029 felt the elections themselves were a rare moment of unity so early in the semester.
“It was one of the first things our class came together to decide,” Pytel said. “She has so much energy and is always searching for ways to include people; I don’t think we could have asked for a better person to represent our freshman class.”
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